Each year, I come away with new books and fresh discoveries of writers I should be reading--last Fest it was Brian Hart and Robert Wrigley. This week, I'm looking forward to meeting my next favorite author in Missoula--the one I don't yet know I need to know. And that's what book festivals are all about, right? Elbow-rubbing and networking aside, events like this are concentrated capsules of time when readers come together with writers, each of them discovering new things about the other. It's like speed-dating for word-nerds.

The lit-love begins Thursday night with a presentation of the Distinguished Achievement Award to Thomas McGuane. The author/rancher/reformed party animal hasn't always been the darling of western literature circles--his comic skewering of the cowboy stereotype has been viewed askance by some who prefer their myths un-busted--so it's especially gratifying to see he'll be appreciated for his underappreciated work over the years.

This year, the Montana Festival of the Book runs simultaneously with the Western Literature Association's annual conference. This will be the cause of my staggering fuzzy-headed through the lobby of the Holiday Inn. I mean, how is a guy like me expected to choose between a presentation of papers on Norman Maclean and a reading from West of Here by Jonathan Evison? System overload!

Once I've recovered, I hope to have a report for you here at the blog (though it probably won't be as long and detailed as last year's report).

The Quivering Pen

The Quivering Pen's motto can be summed up in two words: Book Evangelism. The blog is written and curated by David Abrams, author of the novels Brave Deeds (Grove/ Atlantic, 2017) and Fobbit (Grove/ Atlantic, 2012), from his home office in Butte, Montana. It is fueled by early-morning cups of coffee, the occasional bowl of Cheez-Its, and a lifelong love of good books.